With brightly shining eyes the children say goodbye to Rajan and the other teachers at the end of the day. And with brightly shining eyes they wave back when leaving in the rikshaws Rajan has organized to bring them home. Home means those places where they had been picked up, the places where the poorest of the poor live – on the street! Their parents have no future other than going for alms; they think they need their children to beg in order for them to survive. What a gift it is for these children to find shelter in “Buddha’s Smile School.” It is a gift to them that they will not understand until they grow up. It is love from Rajan they feel and it is this love that shines forth brightly from their eyes. It is this love that enables them to realize their humanity; it makes them feel welcome in this world.
On the streets they would wander aimlessly, without any perspective; lost, too, are they in the tradition of accepting poverty. Here, in the school, they find a completely different world. Their teachers care for them and give them the knowledge they need in order to make better lives for themselves. What has made this path for them is the love they are shown. It is Rajan’s spirit and her courage and above all her love of God and these children that makes this school special.
